You buy a house.
You settle in.
You spend years on the front porch gazing
upon beautiful sunrises, sipping on fresh lemonade.
Then one day it happens… your neighbor makes
a rude comment about how the condition of your lawn is ruining everyone’s curb
appeal, or the fact that you are playing your 80’s hair-band music too loud on
Saturday nights.
What was once an
average insult between neighbors somehow blossoms into full-on war.
Next, you are complaining that his fruit is
falling into your yard and killing your grass. He says your fence is
encroaching on his land.
And that’s when
he filed a lawsuit against you.
Thor Roundy, of EVN Law, has been
practicing Real Estate Law for over 20 years, and he has seen his share of real
estate battles. One of the most common problems? Property lines and battles
over them--battles that can be very costly for both parties.
He describes a situation where one
of his clients had been living in a home for 16 years, using a road that his
client understood was his “right-of-way” to use.
It was the only access to his house.
It took him from the main road that ended at
the corner of his property, across the front yard of his 5-acre horse property,
to his driveway.
Then, one day, he had a
squabble with his neighbor over something trivial, and the real estate war
began…
“It ended up costing both sides
around $30,000 in litigation fees. It was a hard lesson for both parties to
learn. In the end, the Title Company ended up paying to fix the situation on
behalf of the buyer, but it was a lot of time and stress for everyone involved.
And it doesn’t always turn out that well. It is so much better to watch out for
that kind of issue during the Buyer Due Diligence period.”
Your real estate agent should
review your title commitment with you.
It should contain a plat map that should be looked over carefully,
especially when easements are involved. And if there is any doubt, you should
talk to a lawyer to be sure.
If you have questions you would like
Thor to address in future blogs, send them to me at
Stefanie@CharmingUtahHomes.com.
And to reach him for your real estate needs, you can reach him by email at Thor.Roundy@EVNLaw.com.
